Golin's Charlie Coney Departs London To Lead West Coast Creative

LOS ANGELES — Charlie Coney, Golin's head of creative in EMEA, is relocating to California to build out the agency's creative offerings across its Los Angeles and San Francisco offices.

In addition to overseeing creative for current clients, he will be heavily involved in new business opportunities on the West Coast and will continue to be a part of global pitches. He reports to Caroline Dettman, chief creative and community officer, and will be based out of Los Angeles. He's also the chair for Golin's creator community — which includes writers, designers, web developers, editors and photographers — under Golin’s g4 structure.

Coney departs Golin's London office after a decade as executive creative directors Gemma Vardon and Alex Wood step up as creative leads there. (It's worth noting, Golin’s acquisition of the Brooklyn Brothers in February of 2016 also expanded the agency's creative staff in London by more than 100 people.)

Coney has helped drive creative for brands including Magnum, Johnny Walker, Dove, Smirnoff, Cadbury, Sainsbury's and Great Western Railway.

"If LA is even half as fun, award-winning and inspiring, I'll be delighted," said Coney. "It's a great time to make our West Coast region famous for inspiring work that delivers real change and I'm grateful to be a part of it."

Prior to being named lead creative in early 2013, Coney was creative director of the London office, after serving as a director in the consumer practice. Before joining Golin, he was a group account director at PR firm Launch and before that, spent nearly two years as consumer PR manager at eBay.